TheResidentSkeptic’s Techdirt Profile
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About TheResidentSkeptic
CTO, Rv'er, biker, pilot, total geek. Real grey-haired CTO who still codes because I enjoy it - and because it annoys the hell out of the little day coders that the old fart can out-code 'em.
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Look closer - it is worse
not only did she have nothing to do with writing it - but she even stated that they submitted it for her as she was out of town.
*that* in and of itself should be grounds for immediate rejection of the bill and removal from office.
Is she going to let them vote on it for her?
I'm heading to the basement...
... I know my old Daisy Wheel is down there somewhere...I hope my ribbon re-inker wheel is still good...
Re: Food for Thought
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_50th_Anniversary_Collection
Unfortunately
McCain will keep holding these meetings until someone says what he wants to hear - and then he'll push that into a Bill.
This will get interesting.
Let's say a vendor decides to side with the public - and creates a lock screen with 2 keys - an "Unlock" and "Brick NOW" code. The brick code does more than just brick the device - it sets it to "stolen"; wipes the cloud backup copies, secure wipes the SIM and local memory... effectively rendering it useless - even to "sell" after the evidence expiration date.
Now what do they do? Does the government make such a lock screen illegal? Does Bricking your device become a new illegal activity? How far are they going to push?
Election Results Just In
... 45% voted Democrat; 37% voted Republican, and 29% voted Independent.
Other than politicians..
... what is it they are investing in? USA has now fallen out of the top 20 countries in internet speed. They aren't investing in actual technological prowess or advancement here. They are dropping copper, dropping fiber (while bitching about google fiber), and only seem to be interested in investment in high-profit high-cost-to-the-consumer capped wireless.
Competition breeds advancement. Advancement enables innovation. Innovation creates new opportunities for growth and competition. Too many legacy industries are fighting against that vicious cycle.
Apparently, all that really matters is keeping wall street happy with fat profit margins.
And Sony gives us
one more reason to buy a steam machine.
Let's play with the math...
50 years ago was 1966. Let's say musicians lived to 60, and were at their peak at 1/2 that age. So take another 30 off, and we're talking the music of 1936.
What is the expected market for that? They really think they have to go back another 20? To the greatest hits of 1916?
I can't wait for the re-masters of those albums to hit the market...Those Flappers of the 1920's and their music were the cats meow...or the bees knees... or something nearly as stupid as life+70.
Seems appropriate
"100" Billion for a project that will most likely roll out on the centennial anniversary of 9/11...
A Premium Product?
Must be some new definition of the term that I was not previously aware of.
The Really Sad Part
..is that they never asked technologists for suggestions to move into the Digital World.
Here's a quick example:
Given that subscriptions NEVER fully covered the cost of producing and distribution, then we have to ask what they did.
They provided a metric used to set advertising rates - the number of unique addresses (street) that subscribed. Not the number of readers. The digital world provides the same (and more) information for free - the number of unique addresses (IP) that 1) return daily; 2) return multiple times per day; 3) are new; 4) read Sunday only. These numbers could also be used the same way to set advertising rates. Of course, there would have to be more than 2 ads shown every 30 seconds.
Analysis of the on-line activity would provide instant feedback on what articles/news/items were actually of interest. You really had no clue when you threw 40 pages out there of what was actually read. The web gives you that insight - and could certainly be an indicator of where to expend resources to garner more hits, higher metrics, higher rates.
Customer inclusion would foster even more growth. Social sharing increases number of new IP hits.
But no - we're gonna block feedback, add costs, add malware, and demand the Good Old Days back.
oh well.
Turnabout?
And if this stands, then how many other governments can just declare wealthy people in the US as guilty under their laws and seize their assets? That's one way to go after facebook, google, whatsapp, and all the others they don't like.
Wipe 'em all out
Need to find the originator of the 12-bar blues and just sue everybody else.
Yeah... we've fallen off the cliff - and there is no hope for a soft landing.
Reality Bites.
Technology evolves. This is the base rule.
Businesses come and go with the change in Technology. Some adopt, some die.
The typewriter enabled a lot - including the "Typing Pool" where Exeuctives used to fish. Technology replaced the typewriter with the word processor, and the typing pool has vanished from business.
Town Criers used to be the source of news - but they were repaced by the newspaper which anyone could read. But news papers were (quite literally) "Yesterdays News". The web now provides INSTANT access to newswothy events.
Before the web, the only way for information to be shared was via printed form. Businesses came into being to fulfill that need - Academic Publishing was one of those businesses. Since the 1960's with the advent of ARPANET and its successors, universities were the focus for sharing information directly, in real-time. However, storing large amounts of data was extremely expensive, and moving large amounts took a long time with the early speeds. Books were still the better option.
Today, that is no longer true. Data Storage is extremely cheap; networks (even here in the US) are quite fast; and the abiltiy to index content and make it searchable has matured. No longer do researchers need weeks to wade through volumes to find what they seek; a simple query can return links to the relevant documents in milliseconds.
The publishing industries are NOT about publishing - they are only about control, and that control is gone. Unfortunately, it appears to have been a fan of Dylan Thomas and is not going gently into that good night.
Authors no longer need to pay to have their works published; they can do so for free - and anyone can review it and comment (unless the comment section is closed - like the minds behind closing it).
When Authors start revolting over the publishers and the control they so love - they will realize that a publisher putting their work "out of print" puts them "out of income". It doesn't matter if the Copyright term will last another 80 years - a book that can't be bought produces no income.
Just like the typing pool or town criers - the journals are no longer "needed". Sorry folks - but you had a good run. Its over.
Back on point here...
PUBLIC servants, on PUBLIC payroll, doing PUBLIC service, out in PUBLIC...
of course it needs to be locked away and kept out of the PUBLIC domain...
And the next step...
... I can't wait to the the "signed" contract giving one of these agencies the exclusive marketing rights...
The wrong value gap
The "Value Gap" they need to be concerned about is the one between what they value their content at and what consumers value it at.
The kids can climb my fence anytime...
... my Doberman LOVES new chew toys.
Personally, I'm following their lead.
I have banned all mention of "that event" from my home.
Anything really important will show up on youtube anyway.